On the Verge

Dinner with her father, Jonah, and Hannabeth didn’t go as smoothly as Micah had hoped. Halfway through the main course, the group engaged in a rather heated discussion and Hannabeth’s comment had pissed Micah off to the point that she had abruptly stood up and left the restaurant. She really regretted her actions later when her stomach grumbled and she thought back to the half eaten Alfredo manicotti she’d left back at the restaurant. Her mood was brightened however, when her father showed up at her suite an hour and a half later, a take out container for the Italian place they’d eaten and a bottle of wine in hand.

Now though, two days later, the memory was a fading blur as she and Piper looked through the new arrivals rack at H&M. Within minutes, Micah’s hands were full of garments to try on, handing Piper the things she knew for a fact she would be buying.

“Y’know,” Piper started, hold a whimsical dress up to her frame as Micah stood in the changing room, trying on a new style of trousers. “You ought to just get a job at H&M, then you’d at least get an employee discount.”

“I don’t need an employee discount,” Micah reminded her. She turned in the mirror after buttoning the trousers and examined herself. “My dad’s actually quite happy that I’m so obsessed with H&M. In six months, I spend the amount of money on clothes that Selah spends every two weeks,” she said with a scoff, referring to her self-absorbed younger sister.

Selah was barely eighteen, still living with their mother. She knew nothing else to do with her life other than to spend their father’s money left and right. She had received their mother’s silky black hair and thin frame. Micah wasn’t as close to her younger sister as she was to Jonah.

Micah heard Piper laugh from outside the dressing room as she slid the pants down her hips. She tossed them onto the pile of clothes she had decided to purchase and put on her own shorts before draping the soon to be purchased clothing over her arm. She exited the stall and took the rest of the things from Piper before heading towards the register.

The pair walked absently through the crowded mall, stopping to get pretzel bites at a food stand. They dropped their bags near a bench, relaxing against the wooden surface.

“Can we please head to Rodeo Drive when we leave here? I feel poor,” Piper said with a wayward frown, glancing around the mall.

“Piper, we may be at a mall, but we’re at the Beverly Center, meaning we’re still surrounded by Prada, Tiffany and Company, Dolce and Gabbana, and fifteen year old heiresses wielding their daddy’s platinum card,” Micah reminded her, pulling a string from the surface of her blouse.

Piper rolled her eyes. Piper was extremely down to earth, but she did love her designer clothes.

They stayed seated for a while, before heading to Starbucks. The line was long, as was to be expected and as they stood there, Micah stared out the glass windows surrounding the cafe. By the time they reached the front of the line, Micah was no longer thirsty, but ordered a Passion tea anyway. Bags in one hand, drink in the other, they left the confined Starbucks and headed for the main doors of the Beverly Center.

Trying to fish the valet ticket out of her pocket, Micah heard someone call her name from behind. She turned around quickly to see John a few feet away, Garrett a few steps behind them. Micah was surprised to see them, thinking that they’d be recording, but then remembered that it was Sunday.

“Well, hello,” Piper said under her breath, eyeing them as she chewed on her straw.

“Hey, guys,” Micah greeted them with a smile once they got within a short distance. “What are you guys doing here?”

“Ken promised to take Em to Tiffany’s because she wouldn’t stop bitching at him to buy her one of those key necklaces and we just tagged along,” John explained, rolling his eyes.

“Is Em the girl who’s always in the studio with you guys?” she asked after taking a quick sip of her drink and adjusting the bags on her wrist.

“That’s the one,” John said with a charming smile. “Who’s your friend?”

“Oh, sorry,” Micah said, glancing over her shoulder to Piper, who was looking John over with interest. “This is my best friend, Piper Jennings. We both needed some retail therapy, me especially after dinner the other night.” She let her voice trail off, rolling her eyes in irritation at the memory of Hannabeth’s beyond ridiculous comment.

John nodded in understanding and stepped forward to shake hands with Piper and introduce himself. Without John in between them, Micah took a step towards Garrett and they locked eyes. She was able to give him a quick smile before he looked away. She could see a pink flush appear on his cheeks.

His head turned away from her, she noticed the few hairs along his jaw that he had missed shaving. Also, the messiness of his hair. He was wearing a black button down shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, the tail tucked into the waist of his dark skinny jeans. She could see the black ink of his tattoos, dark against the pale skin of his forearms.

There was something about his silence that intrigued her. He would barely look at her, unless she wasn’t looking at him as well. Several times in the last few days, she had noticed him watching her from across the studio. She could assume that Pat hadn’t been lying when he’d told her that Garrett had said that she was attractive from the way Garrett would look at her. She wanted to talk to him. She wanted to know him.

She took the plunge.

“Can you hold these for me?” she questioned, extending her bags to him.

“Wha-?” Garrett responded, his eyes snapping to hers.

“Can you hold my bags for a minute?” she clarified. When he gave her a blank look, she added, “I have to text my dad and ask him about something he asked me to pick up.” This was, of course, a lie.

“Uhm, s-sure,” he said, stumbling over his words. He reached for the bag handles in her outstretched hand. He took the bags, and his arm dropped from the unexpected weight. “Jesus Christ, what did you buy: a thousand dollars worth of bricks?”

“No, not at all,” she said, fishing through her bag for her phone. “Try a thousand dollars worth of clothes.”

“I don’t understand how girls even do that. Honestly though, how do you spend one thousand dollars on clothes?” he asked, setting the bags on the flood as she scrolled through her phone pretending to send a text to her father.

“Well, it was only $843,” she said quietly, her cheeks going pink as her rich girl insecurity took effect.

“Still though,” he said with a sigh, rolling his eyes. She licked her lips, sliding her phone back into her bag. By this point, the tips of her ears were burning red with frustration. She picked up her bags abruptly turning on her heel, walking towards Piper and John a few feet away with her head held high.

“Piper, are you ready?” Micah asked her friend quietly, her eyes darting towards Garrett who looked completely confused. Their eyes met again, and this time, she was the one who looked away.

“What’s wrong, Micah, did Gare bite you or something? We’ve been trying to break him of that habit,” John joked.

Micah gave him a fake smile. “Piper, really? Can we go? I could use some Rodeo Drive luxury now,” she pleaded, grabbing her friends wrist.

“Yeah, sure, we can go.” Piper nodded, sensing her best friend’s discomfort. “It was nice meeting you, John,” she said as the pair walked away.

Micah continued to hold Piper’s wrist until they left the mall, the hot air hitting them like a speeding semi-truck. Micah had located her valet ticket, which she handed to the suited man at the valet booth.

“What happened back there? What did he say to you?” Piper asked, looking down at Micah with concern. The shorter of the two shook her head quickly, as though to clear her thoughts. “You know you’re going to tell me eventually because you’ll get sick of me asking what happened.”

Micah looked at her friend and pursed her lips. “He struck my rich girl insecurity,” she mumbled as the valet returned with her BMW. She thanked the teenager, handing him a ten as a tip. She tossed her bags into the backseat before walking around to the driver’s side and sliding into the comfort of the confined space.

“Mic, I’m sure he didn’t mean to,” Piper assured her as she put the car in drive, running a hand through her hair. “If he really meant to upset you, he did a really nice job of playing dumb when you walked away.”

Micah shrugged off her best friends words, keeping her focus on the road as she left the parking lot. She knew that Garrett hadn’t meant any harm, that his words would hit a nerve. She sighed quietly, heading for Rodeo Drive.

“So, what designer are you craving?” she asked after a few moments of silence, in which she felt uncomfortable.

“Let’s start at Juicy, then head to Chanel. A little Ralph Lauren might be needed as well. We should have dinner Culina!” Piper said with a burst of enthusiasm.

Micah rolled her eyes. “While you’re spending all of your father’s money on designer clothes, I’ll call and make a reservation,” she said, causing her friend to roll her eyes.

Fifteen minutes later, while Piper was trying on everything insight inside the Juicy Couture boutique, Micah stepped out, needing some fresh air. She stood outside the shop for a few moments and a breeze picked up, a cool gust of air sending goosebumps rising over her skin. She started walking, biting her lip as she thought back to the look on Garrett’s face when she’d reached for her bags. Her phone in her pocket buzzed and she stopped in front of the next shop to reach for it.

She responded to the text quickly and as she started to slid the phone back into her pocket, it started to ring. She glanced at the Caller ID and silenced the call with a slight shudder. Dropping her phone into her bag, she started walking, only to hear someone behind her a few seconds later.

“I was wondering why the phone only rang twice,” the person behind her said, a familiar voice. Micah closed her eyes and let out a breath before turning around to face the person behind her.

“Hi, Cain,” she said with a over-exaggerated smile.

“Hey, Micah, long time, no see,” the dark haired boy behind her.

“I didn’t know you were back in LA,” Micah told him, lying through her teeth. She toyed with the charm on her necklace nervously.

“We both know you’re lying, Mic. I’ve texted you several times in the last week, alerting you that I was home. I’ve actually been dying to see you,” he said, biting his lip like he always did when he was trying to seem vulnerable. She pursed her lips, not trying to deny it as she looked him over.

He was still the same sleek, polo-wearing boy she’d fell in love with several years before. His shiny black hair was hanging in his jade green eyes. He had a single diamond earring in his left ear, something she’d always hated. He was quite a bit taller than she was and slender. He was relatively pale, his black hair contrasting against his skin.

Cain Henry was Micah’s crutch. They had met when she was barely seventeen and she’d fallen fast and hard. They’d dated for nearly two years, then spent a year dating on and off. For the last six months, he’d been traveling all over, and she’d barely heard three words from him. He’d been good to her, yet with him, she had no concept of reality. They spent most of their time locked behind clothes doors for days or partying.

Micah rubbed her lips together in thought. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea, Cain,” she said after a moment’s thought. “I mean, we go together like oil and water.”

“If we went together like that, then how did we make it work for three years?”

“Two,” she said very abruptly. “It was only two years.”

He rolled his eyes. “Whatever,” he said with a scoff. “I realize that I wasn’t the best person the last time we...were together, but I’ve changed in the last few months, and I miss you.”

“Cain, honestly, I’m trying to be polite in saying this, but fuck off, please,” she said, enunciating her words clearly. “At this point, I’m over you, and I’d like to stay that way.” She gave him a brief nod before walking around him, back towards Juicy Couture.

“Micah, hang on,” he said from behind her. She sighed heavily and turned to face him.

“What?” she questioned, trying to maintain her composure.

“Can we at least go for drinks tonight? It’ll be my treat. I just want to talk,” Cain offered, a look of sincerity in his eyes. She bit down on her tongue to the point that she nearly gasped in pain.

“I’m having dinner with Piper at the Four Seasons tonight.”

“The hotel bar is open pretty late. I’ll meet you there at ten,” he said with a wink before turning and walking away from her. She found herself watching him walk away, his hands in his pockets nonchalantly. He walked like he knew she was watching him.

She rolled her eyes before closing them tightly, seeing red behind her eyelids. She clenched her fists, spinning on her heel and walking back towards the Juicy shoppe. Inside, Piper was checking out, swiping her card and eyeing the four bags on the counter that were just begging her to take them.

“Pipe,” Micah whined, leaning her forehead against her best friend’s shoulder as she took the bags.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, shrugging her off.

“Cain is back,” she announced, as though the world was ending.

“I know, I saw him a few days ago at Jamba Juice and he asked me how you were doing. I told him to fuck off.”

“So did I!” Micah said exasperatedly. “I kind of, might have made a date to get drinks with him.”

“What? When did this happen?” Piper asked, motioning for Micah to get the door for her.

“When you were trying stuff on, I came outside to get some air and he just like, popped up behind me. I told him to fuck off, but he said something about getting drinks. I told him we were getting dinner at the hotel tonight and he said he’d meet me at the bar at ten.”

“Damn, you really didn’t get the point the last time I told you not to talk to him, did you?”

“I tried, Piper, I really did,” Micah stressed to her friend. Piper only sighed.

“Well, because you’re too nice to simply stand him up, we may as well head to dinner now, and spend the extra time making you look so fucking hot that the little whiny bitch won’t know what hit him,” Piper said, approaching Micah’s BMW.

“Hey, be nice. You make it seem like it’s going to take several hours to make me attractive,” she scoffed, unlocking her car before sliding into the driver’s seat.

“Not several hours. Just one or two, maybe,” Piper said with a teasing smile. Micah only rolled her eyes, turning her key in the ignition.